Food glorious food

Hello readers, it's hard to believe but today marks a month and a half on the trail. Oh my what a month it's been, i've conquered almost 500 miles (about 1/4th of the entire trail) and sit now in the public library in Damascus, Virginia. Surprisingly i've arrived without any serious bodily harm and am still fairly mentally stable. which is more than i can say for poor darwins feet

and this piggys nail fell off

I've hiked through it all rain,sleet,hail,snow hell even giant spiders.

snake runners head for comparison, i slept in the shelter with that thing!

I would like to think i am now a hardened mountain man, except that my beard is weak at best. It's hard to explain to someone the joys of hiking and just what is so fun about doing this. When i tell people i've been out in the woods for almost 2 months they always have the same question, why? That is something that you really just have to be out here to understand. The joys in this come from the hard work, it comes from 3 days of soaking wet boots and clothes and finally getting into a town to dry off and have a burger and beer. My friend Matt decided to hop on the trail with me in hot springs and hike to Pennsylvania (about 500 miles) he drove for 3 hours from his house in high point to meet up with me, after buying all of the gear and food needed.

Lets look back at some of the fun times we've shared....

oh that's right we can't because Matthew K. Mccarron lasted approximately 2 miles up the trail, he spent more time driving up to the trail then he did on it! Matt thats bad, and you should feel bad. But it just shows that it does take a certain type of crazy to do something like this. Though one of my virtues is my optimism (when it was snowing hard on top of a mountain i simply stuck my tongue out arms wide and relished in the fact that i was actually seeing snow for the first time in years and not at the fact that i was wet and freezing) its still rather hard to see the fun in this sometimes and i do question why i'm out here.

But then i think of the alternative, i think of how my time would be spent otherwise. In front of a computer or a tv screen, safe in the comfort of my home and seeing the same old crap and same people that I always do. I've meet so many different people from so many different walks of life, people 40 years my senior that share their life experiences and pass down advice that you just can't buy. My days are filled with new mountainous views and animals and plants I've never seen in person before. My days are also filled with self reflection and meditation, i have become closer with my self then ever and find that I have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. I know that I am learning things that i never would at a desk in a classroom, i'm learning to survive and thrive in a climate were I am not comfortable.

This brings me to one of the coolest things i have learned and thats how to pick wild veggies. The woods is just full of stuff you can pick and shove in your mouth.

This mouse not being one of them, they are so cute when they're babies and not dragging their filthy disease covered bellys over you in a shelter.

One of the tastiest treats is something called a "ramp". Allium tricoccum to be exact, basically a wild leek with a strong onion-y flavor and garlic undertone. They're great for tossing into soups,tortillas, or even just eating raw.

 I'm also fortunate enough to have one of the best mom's in the world (happy mothers day btw i love you <3) who is periodically sending maildrops to me full of food from the real world. She just got hold of a food dehydrater and has been making some fantastic dried fruits and veggies for me. Not to mention some amazing beef jerky, I am serious this stuff is stellar I had another hiker offer me money for it. So I have been able to make some pretty decent dishes.

Here we have some miso soup with mushrooms and ramps

However there are some points were you run out of all of the tasty stuff and have to just throw whatever is left into a tortilla and hope for the best.

This is called hiker gourmet

So of course there's good and there is bad about this lifestyle but at the end of the day there is nowhere else i would rather be and nothing else i would rather be doing.

3 weeks..

They say it takes 3 weeks to develop a habit and get your so called "trail legs" well after 3 weeks the following are true
- I hike roughly 15 miles a day up and down mountains
- I go weeks at a time without seeing my own reflection
- I fart as much in a day as i used to in a week
- my snickers budget consists of $20 for 4 days
 I am grateful for warm food, showers, beds
i am grateful.
Also i've conquered the smokies! No small feat, I quickly discovered my 35 degree bag is of little use against 15 degree weather with freezing winds. But the smokies also gave me some of the most gorgeous views on the entire trail. Due to park regulations there is no tenting allowed (doing so carries a $75 fine and being labeled a dick) so all hikers are forced to stay in the shelters which was great because it ment i was shacked up with many hikers i hadn't seen in weeks.

Train, big bear, and the twisted sisters. Whats so twisted about them? They're married of course. They have recently changed their names to psycho and path respectively, presumably because people thought they were sisters.. and thats just nasty. I reached my 200 mile mark yesterday and the tallest point on the entire Appalachian trail. Clingmans dome. It's here were i hitched in to Gatlingburg (or Gomorrah as firestarter nicknamed it) which is basically a giant theme park in the middle of the mountains (except instead of cool rides they have t-shirt shops and candy stores). It's very disillusioning heading out into such a town, waiting in line for mcdonalds as the herd of rednecks in there XXL walmart shirts with sayings like "thats how i roll" or "eat sleep text" complain that there bigmac is taking too long and scoff through their turkey necks. It's silly to see so much gimicky crap in a town that is surrounded by some of the most beautiful mountains in the country. Why would anyone want to go to a ripleys believe it or not mirror maze or buy a sword when there is so much fantastic natural splendor around. Another benefit of the smokies is that I saw more animals in one day then i have the entire 3 weeks on the trail. A 3 foot tall turkey that walked the trail with me and 4 of the biggest deers i've ever seen.

not to mention the ballsiest, i ate lunch with this guy who was munching on some grass about 20 feet away from me.

So with the smokies under my belt i continue onward.. the bitter cold was too much for many hikers and the herd has thinned a bit but my resolve is only strengthened.

Trail magic, i dont usually rely on the kidness of strangers.

North Carolina has tons of great brewerys and beer, some fantastic rapids and now me and a dozen of my smelly hiker friends (and a dog)

still the biggest, and cutest animal i've seen on the trail. That's right the big news today is i've conquered my first state and first 100 miles, something that seems like an insane and unlikely accomplishment. The 4 mile stroll straight up hill at 8 a.m resulted in this overjoyed border photo between gasps of air.

Yes i'm sunburned, my feet are blistered and bruised, and it appears my right arm has become a popular feeding destination for the many bugs on the appalachian trail. As well as the hundreds of spiders i most likely spend the night with in my tent. But alas, there is hope! Believe it or not there are people out there that understand the pain and suffering of the thru hiker. Which is saying a lot, theres a pretty common term around here for thru-hikers and thats "hiker trash". I fully understood this classification when i was using someones side mirror when flossing and brushing my teeth.

Dude i stink, there's no way i can go to the bar. Think we could just.. bathe and wash our clothes in the middle of the river? If i've learned anything in these past two weeks its how to appreciate and be grateful, when you're biggest luxury is hot sauce for your spam the smallest things mean so much more.

like a robins nest in the outhouse. There is a term i've recently become aware of and thats trail angel. These are people who do trail magic, which is really anyone who goes out of there way to make a hiker smile. The trail angels can be anyone from past thru-hikers to hiking enthusiasts, hell sometimes even just some bikers with an extra 12 pack of beer before a large mountain. Beer is always welcome because, as alcohol usually does, it gives the energy and confidence to carry on. After my previous blogpost i was ready to get back out on the trail with my hiking group, unfortunatley being new to the whole mailing to the middle of the mountains thing i was quite delayed. I ended up being about 4 hours late for the shuttles to the trail (11 miles away) and i had heard some pretty scary hitching stories. The "man in the red truck" who would drive you out to somewhere 5 miles away and and then tell you he needs 5 bucks, 20 bucks, your organs etc. So a local who saw me asked were i was headed and said oh this guy will take you. Tik-tok was an older man, who due to some pretty shitty circumstances ended up stuck in Hiawassee, he drove me the 11 miles and after promptly refusing the gas money i offered pointed up and said hmm looks like some trail magic. Perhaps some water or food on the side of the road? No, no it was 3 very kind women from asheville who had set up chili, hotdogs, gatorades, and water.

Is that salt and vinegar chips AND fritos, damn these ladies know how to party. Then the very next day i got hit with my first real thunder storm and that was hard. Thunder and lightning are scary enough, well enough to make my chihuahas shake, but when your on a mountain and literally the highest metal thing are the pot hanging outside your pack in, things get a little sketchy. Not only do i have to deal with seeing lightning sometimes 10 feet away from me, but then once i finally start to descent the rocks are slipperier than a field of banana peels. So i slowly make my way down the rocks and finally make it to deep gap were i see a small tent set up. (spins on left, baboon on right) as i come closer i realize theres a whole spread of yummy foods, grilled veggies (a huge treat, i go weeks without eating anything green), hummus, chips, and even the sweet hipster nectar i crave PBR!

Spins and baboon thru-hiked last year and wanted to give back so naturally me and a couple of hikers spent the night at that gap, hell i wouldn't turn down free beer and food regardless of the circumstance. Then of course there's always those that try and take advantage of this amazing community. A Floridian (fun fact, roughly 80% of the people i have met have been from Florida) by the name of "gator" he probably has more tattoos then brain cells and he is the definition of a mooch. Pretty much just a guy who came onto the trail with no money, and no idea what he was doing who has made it 137 miles in solely on the kindness of other people who have bought him food, gear, and even booze. But of course people like that tend to get cast out as news on the trail spreads quick. Then there's the guy at woody gap who was an "rn", he was gauzing peoples feet and cleaning them up and then would ask for 20 bucks. We all later deduced that he was most likely just a guy with a foot fetish and a $16 bottle of betadine. Anyway, I sit now at the Nantahala outdoors center which sits literally in the middle of the appalachian trail, a beautiful resort built on a large white water rapid that attracts lots of different tourists. Its a beautiful area and i actually spent my first zero day here, which means i did no hiking at all and just sat around and ate and it was spectacular. However someone decided it would be a good joke to put the NOC at the bottom of the largest mountain in North Carolina, i've discovered that whole thing about alcohol giving strength is devastatingly untrue for hangovers. So Wish me luck, and the strength to not stay for my 8th peanut butter milkshake in 2 days. oh burger basket, why you so good?

The trail: the great communicator... a.k.a dames and trail names

Welcome to Hiawassee, Georgia population: 800 length of town aproximatly 2 miles, number of stop lights: 2.

You know when the church is the tallest building in town, you're in the south. But getting in to town is really great, all be it a little disallusioning. Wait so your saying i can just buy any food i want right off the shelf? like anything? If there was any advice i could give to those attempting a thru-hike it would be to get a water filter. Those who know me are aware that there are 3 things i am afraid of: spiders, anything floating in my water, and commitment. and boy do those water tablets leave a crap ton of floaties, sometimes mica and minerals and sometimes whole mosqiuto parts. Also ill be damned if after filtering a tiny muddy trickle of dirty and smelly stream water a water filter will have it coming out tasting like an ice cold bottle of poland springs. Anyway one week on the trail! huzzah break out the cheap champagne and double cheesburgers. I would say i've got a pretty good taste of trail life, which usually consists of a plethora of different people and beautiful views as well as a scheduele that has me in bed by 9 and awake by 7. There's the meandering snail who i met on my first night at the shelter. A 5'10 280 pound hari-krishna who had just come back not 14 days ago from a 6 year stay in an ashram in india (basically a monastery for krishnas). He was on his 12th day of a 30 day fast and had made it about 11 miles in those days. But not 5 feet away from him sat blues clues, a psychotherapist with his own practice in Boston. The trail is the great equalizer, you could have a harvard degree or a 2 felony record and by the end of the day everyone is cooking there ramen and discussing all of their aches and pains. How much mileage we are planning on doing tomorrow, the beautiful views and that bastard of a mountain who almost broke my ankle! Surprisingly the trail is about 70/30 guys and girls which is great because from experience i know that too much testosterone in one place is not a good thing.

from left: sink, ultra violet, button, and naked ninja at the mountain crossing hostel at neels gap. But i need to share with you the greatest 4 words that any thru-hiker can hear. its not "warm bed and shower" or "lookin like no rain" no its all you can eat. And eat all i could i did oh me brothers, i ate and i ate until i couldn't make up me rasoodock what to do with myself.

that first bite of real food was.... indescribable. and by the end of the meal, the taste of butterscotch pudding and whipped cream still rich on my tounge. I was grateful, i appreciated, and i knew there was nowhere else i would rather be then at that table with my friends, pure bliss. As far as my trail name(s) go i have gone through about 3 first was while in a shelter with Jason and Linda (two hippie folks carrying a ukelele and a fiddle whom i got along with real well until we split ways at woody gap). I wasn't sure whether to go on to the campsite or call it a very early night, and of course i lucked out as this was the day i landed that great spot on Justus mountain. So as im re-packing/un-packing Travis says jeez so what the hell are you going to do? I said yeah i'm an indecisive bastard and almost immediatley linda says, hey theres your trail name! I'll call you indecisive bastard steven I.B.S -__-. Then theres sink and his group who i've been keeping steady pace with pretty much a big group of farm boys. When i told them i'd come from Jersey and had lived there for quite a long time he thought i looked like quite the Jersey boy and so the name "Jersey" stuck. Then came a name i was actually happy with.. I loves me some canned cheese and my plan was to get a bottle every week and just suck down the plasticy goodness for some quick protein and calcium. However, my pack had other plans.. The end of the bottle ended up depressing with the force of my hiking and i opened up my food bag to find a greasy, wet, ball of cheese through the entirety of the bag. This was 3 days away from town mind you and dumping anything thats not poop onto the ground is very frowned upon. So i had 3 days of picking out bags of ramen noodles, slim jims, and chocolate from the gooey mound of mess i had created. When i had finally reached the hotel room dumping that cheese out was the only thing on my mind. My three bunk mates washed as i globbed out the sticky yellow paste like a waterfall into the trash can. But this was not enough, the cheese seemed to have lined the bag entirely and the only relief was to flood it with shower water. After leaving a slime trail of cheese behind me and generally pissing off everyone in the room the name "cheese wiz" was born.

Bonus shot: thats firewalker in the "casino" (really a backroom with poker chip table clothes stapled to the wall, 2 video slots and a battery powered disco light) in the back of a thrift shop.

I'm dirty, sweaty, chafing

and i love it, ok well not the chafing but i'm working on that. Fortunately i made it to mountain crossing shelter in time to get a bunk, a shower, and a meal. So here's the scenario for you readers: It's the second day and after spending the night at a shelter with justin and linda i had made it 5.5 miles to the next shelter, it was only 1 p.m and they wanted to stop there for the night, so i ate lunch and set up my sleeping bag. But at a point i realized its 5 hours till dark, i wanted to tent and i still had some more hike in me. So i notice the next campsite is 6 miles away, hmm i usually average close to 2 miles an hour... challenge accepted. So I head out. However i hadn't yet been familiarized with the elevation chart in my book. So it turns out i had to hike 2 gigantic mountains. I reach horses gap, the spot between the two mountains and its right next to the road. Hmm momma always said not to camp by a road, i notice 2 guys sitting in there truck in the parking lot. He asked were i was from and we started talking, i realized the guy in the drivers seat was shooting something up and i saw the fresh needle hole on his forearm. "we'r pickin roots out of the ground fer the park. We get 20 bucks for erry hundred" . So either i could stay here and risk them finding out the sticks i was holding was worth 130 or hike up the next 3,300 ft mountain. .... So i reach the next gap and decide to camp at the next spot i see. It just so happens that is this:

3,300 feet on top of justus mountain. There was still some daylight left and so i could see an entire town (insert name here when remembered) unfortunately a picture couldn't do justice to the glory of the view.The best part about this is, i had it all to myself. My fear of the trail being crowded was apparently quite unfounded. I have just about as much time alone as i do with friends and i can choose more or less of either. The days usually end up with me and the group of 4 or 5 people i started with getting our gear un-packed, trading moonshine (thanks sink!) and stories around a fire till we are all so exhausted we curl up in our bags and fall instantly asleep. So its been 4 days and i can confidently say that i love it out here. It's also fun to adapt to the ways of living in the woods. Because the woods are definitely not going to adapt around you. Bugs trying to get at your sweet eye juices at night? Put a bandanna over them. Is your ipod doing barrel rolls in your tent? Put a bandanna on that bitch! As you can tell my bandanna has become a part of my head.

^this is my kitchen sink, mind you this is not some run off down stream this water is literally shooting out of this 4,400 ft tall mountain. I have yet to encounter any terrible weather while hiking (although about 20 minutes ago it was hailing out). So maybe the gods will stay on my side and not serve up anything terrible.. that would be nice. maybe some offerings to zues so i dont get struck by lightning. Anyway, i could sit here and write for hours on all the people i've met and things that have happened but its time to get back on the trail. It also appears this computer has managed to pick up every virus ever made since 1999. But i'm alive, i'm happy, and i'm ready for whatever the trail has in store for me next. Bring it on.

The world shines as i cross the macon county line.

Its all coming together now, i leave tomorrow to begin my journey. I'm in Dawsonville, Georgia  at the luxury super 8 (mini fridge in room constitutes luxury in these parts) and just seeing all of the trees starting to bloom on the hills is making me want to wander out towards the woods. I must say i was fortunate enough to have a great group of family and friends behind me (that means you mom and dad!), if it weren't for all of you guys i wouldn't be able to do this.

Its funny to see all of the planning that has lead up to this and just how beneficial that has been. I'm more focused and excited than i have ever been. I've seen a spike in my interest for meeting people, i've become a better listener not only to others but to myself. I know that this time that i will have to explore will be a huge point of growth for me. Who knows whats around the next hill, the next horizon. I leave for this trip not only with the knowledge that i will be seeing and inviting new people and experiences into my life, but that i will be saying goodbye to what i've held so dear in these past few years. Goodbye to the internet, to the comfort and familiarity of my friends, family, and warm cozy bed, the instant gratification of a delicious big box from tacobell while drunk. Goodbye to my adorable little puppies, more importantly.... goodbye to me.

Of course none of that means dick if i can't actually hike the beginning of the thing. So its a good thing i've got some people to hike the way up with. My sister, and mother will be hiking the approach trail located at Amicalola Falls State Park to springer mountain. The 8.1 mile approach trail is touted by many as a very difficult hike, even by those who thru-hike. Perhaps  its difficulty has to do with it being the first long stretch of hike with elevation change (2,000 ft) that many hikers have done, including myself and entire hiking party. So will we all give up and retreat to the  hotel, back to the stale pizza crust and busch light- the answer to this and more in the next installment of the inexperienced hiker!

4 days to go

I ended my time in jersey as most do, in a hotel with gastroenteritis. But being a 2 minute drive away from rei has put me in a comfortable place with what i'm bringing.

Home till September

So with 2 months of what i would call training, i end up with a 35 pound backpack, a whole new level of anticipation and few(er) worries. I hope that my strategy of rolling with the blows and reminding myself of why i'm doing this will keep me going.

So, why am i doing this?

I realized that i have a passion for adventure, the new and unknown experiences in life. I also think that accomplishing goals and working hard towards something gives great insight into yourself.
So i throw myself at the mercy of mother nature with only the belongings on my back. 6 months of new challenges, new highs, new lows and hopefully no bears. 

psh i aint afraid of no bears